Column shower



111112, 6 c. c. GEROW s-rm. 3,095,579

cowum SHOWER Filed Oct. 50, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS Clarence C. Gerow Hermon F. Bottcher Harper Londell W Mme Ma ATTORNEYS Charles F. Molzen a July 2, 1963 c. c. GEROW ETAL 3,095,579

COLUMN SHOWER Filed Oct. 30, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 R 3 g Q mvsurons g x 2 Clarence C.Gerow Hermon E Bottcher Fl 6 20 Charles E Moli'en a nor cow Harper Lundell VII/I/I/III July 2, 1963 c. GEROW ETAL 3,095,579

counvm SHOWER Filed 001.. 30, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 4 III/I;wIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIJ if y 159141 2 5/ l q: 54 YI/AHHIIIII s A INVENTORS Clarence G. Gerow Herman E Bottcher J i Charles E Molzen8 Harper Londell HOT cow $4M MM MM a rolmws July 2, 1963 c.,c. GEROW ETAL 3,09

COLUMN SHOWER 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed 001,. 50, 1961 INVENTORS Parenci C. Gerca erman Bottc er Charles E Moze Harper Lundell United States Patent 3,095,579 CDLUMN SHOWER Clarence C. Gerow, Claymont, DeL, Herman F. Bottcher,

Plainfield, NJ., and Charles F. Molzen, Philadelphia,

and Harper Landell, Whitemarsh, Pa., assignors to Speakman Company, Wilmington, Del.

Filed Oct. 30, 1961, Ser. No. 148,526 4 Claims. (Cl. 4-145) This invention relates to a novel multi-person column shower. More in particular this invention relates to free standing multi-person showers and to a support and drain therefor.

Hereto-fore certain column showers have been constructed wherein the valves and manifolds have been assembled about a central support. This assemblage of the manifolds and valves with their connected shower heads has shown all of the disadvantages of not'being rigidly mounted on a support. The drains and supports for the column shower, either of the free-standing or the through standing type must carry the weight of the entire assemblage, and must be capable of being aligned and maintained in water-tight engagement with certain flooring.

It is an object of this invention to provide a column shower having a tubular central support and having a block rigidly mounted on that support to carry the housing, the valve assemblage and the shower heads.

It is another object of this invention to provide a drain and support for a tubular column.

It is a further object of this invention to provide hot and cold water supply mains that are in the same plane.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a casting which may be rigidly attached to the top of the tubular column and act as a rigid support for the valve and shower assemblage, said casting containing as an integral part thereof longitudinally spaced manifolds.

It is a still further object of the drain and column support to so construct it that it will permit a two-step installation of a column unit. The first step is the installation of the bowl portion of the drain which would be installed in the floor before the cement is poured; the

second step is the installation of the column support after the floor and walls are finished.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a column support that will hold gratings covering the drain.

Still another object of this invention is to supply a column support so that the drain may be cleaned without removing the column.

The various features of novelty which characterize this invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming part of this specification. For a better understanding of the invention, however, its advantages and specific objects obtained with its use, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which has been illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view.

FIG. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a horizontal sectional view of another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 88 of FIG. 7.

"ice

FIG. 9 is a horizontal sectional view of still another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 10-10 of FIG. 9.

A column shower comprising a tubular support 20, is shown in FIG. 1, having attached to the top thereof a manifold block 21 with a lower skirt portion 22, which closely embraces the tubular support 20. Surrounding this block and supported thereon is a housing 23. Mounted on the exterior surface of the housing are valve control handles 24, 24 and near the upper part of the housing are the shower heads 25, 25. The tubular housing is supported by a combination drain and support 26.

The tubular column support 20 has the threaded upper portion 27, shown in FIGS. 4 and 8, and the threaded lower portion 28 shown in FIGS. 6 and 10. This tubular column 20 supports the weight of the entire assemblage, and provides a central portion 55 through which the necessary conduits 44 and 45, to carry the hot and cold water may be installed to provide access to the supply.

A manifold block 21, shown in FIG. 4 is made of cast metal and is provided with two horizontally spaced, substantially parallel circular manifolds 29 and 30. Spaced at regular intervals across the upper surface of each manifold are a series of bosses 31, 3.1 on the manifold 29, and 32, 32 on the manifold 30. Each of these bosses 31 has attached thereto a conduit 33 and each of the bosses 32, has attached thereto a conduit 34. A supply conduit 35 is threadedly connected by means of the boss 36 to the manifold 29. A similar conduit 37 is connected by means of the boss 38 to the manifold 30. Cold water is admitted through the supply conduit 35 to the manifold 29 and hot water is admitted through the supply conduit 37 to the manifold 30. This manifold has a groove 39 separating the manifolds 29 and 30 and has the threaded holes 40, 40 therein to receive and hold soap dispensing valves (not shown). The manifold block is also tapped to receive the screws 41, 41 that hold the housing 23 in position.

The housing 23 is made of sheet metal and is attached to the manifold block 21 by means of the screws 41. Mounted through this housing 23 are the control handles 24, 24 and the shower heads 25, 25. The valves 42, 42,

only one of which is shown, are connected to the hot water conduit 34 and the cold water conduit 33 and deliver mixed water to the conduit 43, which is connected to one of the shower heads 25. It is, of course, realized that for each shower head there is shown a separate mixing valve, but this is not necessarily always the case as one valve can be used to supply water to more than one shower head.

A modification of the manifold shown in FIG. 4 is shown in FIG. 8, wherein the supply conduit 44 carrying cold water and a conduit 45 carrying hot water, are connected to each of the manifolds 46 and 47. These manifolds have the bosses 48, 48 and 49, 49 thereon. This block has the manifold in exact parallel relationship and has the threaded holes 50 between the manifolds. These holes are used to receive and hold soap dispensing valves (not shown). This block has a skirt portion 51 overlying the vertical support 20 and has a threaded portion 52 which is threadedly engaged with the threads 27 on the upper portion of the tubular support 20. This skirt portion has set screws 53, 53 therein to lock the manifold block and provide a bearing surface for this block against the tubular support 20. This block is supplied with the threaded screw holes 54, 54 to support the housing 23.

The manifold block, shown in FIG. 8, is mounted on the tubular support 20 by means of the threaded portion 27 on top of the tubular support with the matching threads 52 on the upper portion of the skirt of the manifold block. The manifold block 21 shown in FIG. 4 has the lower skirt 22 which is retained in a sliding fit over the tubular support and provides a rigid mounting for this manifold block on the support. The hot water conduit 37 and the cold water conduit 35 shown in FIG. 4 is then connected to the respective manifolds 29 and 36'. Each of these manifolds has a plurality of conduits leading therefrom, one from each manifold, connected to a mixing valve 42 which delivers mixed water to the conduit 43, which in turn delivers water to the shower heads directly above the mixing valve, shown in FIG. 1. The entire Weight of the conduit, the valve and the shower heads are all supported on the cast rigid block 21, which in turn is supported by the tubular member 20. The housing 23 is then mounted on the manifold block 21 by means of the threaded screws 41. placed on the valve stems of the valve 42. All of this equipment is mounted on and supported by the manifold block 21 which is mounted on and is supported by the tubular support 20. The tubular support 20 is mounted on and supported by a combination drain and support 60 by means of the threads 28 on the lower end of the tubular support with the matching threads 61 on the interior portion of the support mounted over the drain. Hot and cold water conduits and 37 are mounted as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The drain support may be of either one or two types, the vertical discharge type, shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, and the lateral discharge type shown in FIGS. 9 and 10.

The vertical discharge drain support fixtures, shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 have the upper tubular portion 62 having the screw threads 61 on the interior surface thereof to receive the threads on the bottom portion of the tubular support member 20. This upper tubular portion 62 is supported by multiple legs 63, 63 of which there may be either three or four. open to admit the water to the drain. This drain comprises a lower portion 64 having a machined upper sur face 65 to receive and hold the legs 63, 63 and is retained by screws 66 which rigidly support the upper portion of the drain assemblage and the tubular member 20. The lower portion of this drain has the downwardly extending tubular member 67, which is connected by usual means to a drain pipe. A flange 68 extends outwardly from the drain assemblage 64 to catch seepage between the floor and the drain 64. This seepage is admitted to the drain area by means of the holes 69, 69 thereby compensating for any seepage of water between the flooring and the lower drain body 64. The hot and cold water supply 35 and 37 are connected through two supply inlets through bosses 70, 70 appropriately spaced in the interior surface of the lower portion of the drain 64.

In mounting the drain and support fixturts, the lower portion 64 is connected to the sewage system by means of the lower tubular portion 67. It is then leveled by leveling screws (not shown) which are received by the threaded holes 71. The floor is then poured, if cement flooring is used, to the level 72, shown in FIG. 6. After the floor has been set and the walls finished and the interior Work completed the upper portion 60 is then mounted on the lower portion 64 by means of the screws 66. This is levelled by means of the three levelling screws 66. The tubular support 20 which has already been assembled with the member 60 by means of the threads 28 on the lower portion of the tubular member 20 engaging the threads 61 on the upper portion of the drain member 60.

The lateral discharge drain 75, shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 is made in one single piece. It has a central tubular portion 76 having threads 77 on the interior lower portion thereof. The lateral drain has a circular trough 78 defined by the wall portion 79 which leads to a lateral discharge opening 80. A foot or leveling support 81 is mounted on the bottom portion of the wall 79 on the side opposite to the lateral discharge. The lip portion 82 extends outwardly from the wall portion 79 and has the The handles 24 are then The space between these legs is drainage holes 83, 83 to allow the water that collects on the lip 82 to be fed back into the circular drain 73. In mounting this device the combination support and drain is connected to a sewage system by means of the opening 80. The tubular support 20 has been mounted in the factory before installation in the tubular central portion 76 where the matched threads 28 and 77 are engaged to hold the tubular support in a rigid upright position. The set screw 84 is then used to lock in position the tubular support member 20. The floor is then installed to the level shown. Any seepage that occurs between the outer Wall of the drain and the flooring will be caught on the lip 82 and be fed back into the drain portion for disposal. The supply pipes 37 and 35 are connected after the installation of the column shower, shown in FIG. 1.

A grating 85 is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 which fits over the multiple legs 63 and is detachably attached thereto by the threaded bolts 86, 86. This grating prevents the admission of large objects to the drain and at the same time allows ready access to the drain area for cleaning. A similar grating (not shown) may be installed in the drain, shown in FIG. 10.

A through standing shower is one where the support is attached to both the ceiling and the floor. The present application refers to a free standing shower where there is no support attached to the ceiling and all of the weight has to be carried by the lower support.

While in accordance with the provisions of the statutes the best forms of embodiment of this invention have been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes may be made in the form of the apparatus disclosed without departing from the spirit of this invention as set forth in the appended claims and that in some cases features of this invention may be used without the corresponding use of other features.

What is claimed is:

l. A vertically disposed free standing multi-person shower bath accessible from all directions thereabout, comprising:

(a) a vertical hollow standard,

(b) means cooperating with the bottom of the standard to support the latter,

(0) a housing carried by said standard in a zone spaced above the standard supporting means, said housing having a series of shower heads located near the top thereof,

(d) a manifold block having two horizontally spaced, substantially parallel circular manifolds therein, said block being supported by the top of said standard, said housing being attached to and supported by said block, one manifold being connected to a source of supply of hot water and a second manifold being connected to a source of supply of cold water, each manifold having a plurality of take-off conduits, one conduit from each manifold being connected to a mixing valve, said mixing valve being controlled through said housing, and a conduit from each mixing valve carrying mixed hot and cold water to a shower head.

2. A vertically disposed free standing multi-person shower bath accessible from all directions thereabout, comprising:

(a) a vertical hollow standard,

(12) means cooperating with the bottom of the standard to support the latter,

(0) a housing carried by said standard in a zone spaced above the standard supporting means, said housing having a series of shower heads located near the top thereof,

(d) a manifold block having two horizontally spaced, substantially parallel circular manifolds therein, said block being threadedly attached to the top of said standard, and said block having a bottom skirt portion overlying the top portion of said standard, said housing being attached to and supported by said block, one manifold being connected to a source of supply of hot water and a second manifold being connected to a source of supply of cold water, each manifold having a plurality of take-off conduits, one conduit from each manifold being connected to a mixing valve, said mixing valve being cont-rolled through said housing, and a conduit from each mixing valve carrying mixed hot and cold water to one of said shower heads.

3. A combination floor drain and a support mountable in an opening in a shower room floor for free-standing and through-standing stanchions for multi-person showers comprising:

(a) a circular drain body provided with (b) an external lip portion having open drainage seepage holes conneoting the upper surface of said lip portion to the interior concave portion of said drain body,

\(c) a laterally disposed outwardly directed fluid outlet port formed in said body having an axis substantially perpendicular to said body axis,

(d an upstanding tubular central boss portion having internal threads therein and being open to allow the Water supply conduits to pass therethrough, and

(e) a hollow tubular stanchion support having its lower end portion threadedly held in upstanding boss portion and having its axis substantially at right angles to the axis of said fluid outlet port.

4. A combination floor drain and support mountable in an opening in a shower room floor for free-standing and through-standing stanchions for multi-person showers comprising:

(a) a circular drain body having a centrally disposed downwardly directed fluid outlet port formed in said body,

(1)) two bosses formed on the interior surface of said body, threadedly connected to the sources of water on their lower surface and threadedly connected to the water supply conduits on their upper surface,

(0) an external lip portion surrounding said circular drain body, having open drainage seepage holes connected to the upper surface of said lip portion connecting the upper surface of said lip portion to the interior surface of said drain body,

(d) an upper tubular portion having threads on the exterior surfaces thereof and having legs depending downwardly therefrom, said legs being received by and fastened to the upper surface of said drain body, and

(e) a tubular stanchion support having screw threads on the lower end thereof to be received by and rigidly held in relation to said upstanding tubular portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,293,544 Heine et a1 Aug, 18, 1942. 2,825,909 Morris Mar. 11, 1958 2,885,689 Morris May 12, 1959 2,991,943 Mullett et al July 11, 1961 

1. A VERTICALLY DISPOSED FREE STANDING MULTI-PERSON SHOWER BATH ACCESSIBLE FROM ALL DIRECTIONS THEREABOUT, COMPRISING: (A) A VERTICAL HOLLOW STANDARD, (B) MEANS COOPERATING WITH THE BOTTOM OF THE STANDARD TO SUPPORT THE LATTER, (C) A HOUSING CARRIED BY SAID STANDARD IN A ZONE SPACED ABOVE THE STANDARD SUPPORTING MEANS, SAID HOUSING HAVING A SERIES OF SHOWER HEADS LOCATED NEAR THE TOP THEREOF, (D) A MANIFOLD BLOCK HAVING TWO HORIZONTALLY SPACED, SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL CIRCULAR MANIFOLDS THEREIN, SAID BLOCK BEING SUPPORTED BY THE TOP OF SAID STANDARD, SAID HOUSING BEING ATTACHED TO AND SUPPORTED BY SAID BLOCK, ONE MANIFOLD BEING CONNECTED TO A SOURCE OF SUPPLY OF HOT WATER AND A SECOND MANIFOLD BEING CONNECTED TO A SOURCE OF SUPPLY OF COLD WATER, EACH MANIFOLD HAVING A PLURALITY OF TAKE-OFF CONDUITS, ONE CONDUIT FROM EACH MANIFOLD BEING CONNECTED TO A MIXING VALVE, SAID MIXING VALVE BEING CONTROLLED THROUGH SAID HOUSING, AND A CONDUIT FROM EACH MIXING VALVE CARRYING MIXED HOT AND COLD WATER TO A SHOWER HEAD. 